Welcome to Bimmerfest -- The #1 Online Community for BMW related information! Please enjoy the discussion forums below and share your experiences with the 200,000 current, new and past BMW owners. The forums are broken out by car model and into other special interest sections such as BMW European Delivery and a special forum to voice your questions to the many BMW dealers on the site to assist our members!

On Friday July 27 I was slowly pulling into my driveway and suddenly my 2007 BMW X3 took off. I managed to steer all the way, missed the wall, hit a tree, drove on my neighbour's lawn and barely missed her SUV (minor scratches to the rear bumper). Finally I used the emergency brake, put it in neutral and turned the car off to stop it while the engine was still reving high. I had my foot on the brake hence the tire marks on my driveway. A simple search on internet reveals other similar incidents. I have posted a few pictures.

next time it happens, throw it into neutral. i suggest you keep your foot on the brake while making those slow maneuvers that should give you enough time to brake harder and throw it into neutral before you hit anything.

I got an update on this incident. I sent the X3 to a BMW dealership for investigation. I was told that the Vanos solenoid sensors were faulty causing the vehicle to surge. I don't know enough about these sensors so I will have to trust BMW. My concern is that what if they fail again? What kind of an accident am I going to end up in? If a faulty sensor can have such a serious consequence, then there is a design flaw here.

I'd like a more thorough explanation than that, too. Are those sensors really able to cause wide open throttle? Scary stuff, glad you're ok! Nice quick reaction.

And I have to say, this is another reason why I prefer manual transmission cars. First reaction would be to clutch in and brake; it's hard to quickly reach over and throw an auto into neutral, even for quick-thinking people, you're going to be more immediately concerned with steering and braking while the car is still in gear...

I haven't been able to find info on when BMW put brake override on all their cars.

EDIT: I just found this.

Quote:

BMW

BMW originated the electronic throttle pedal or “drive-by-wire” system in the 1988 BMW 750iL. By 1994 all BMW products sold in the United States had electronic throttle pedals. Since the very first system in 1988, every BMW Group electronic throttle system (including BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce) has incorporated a brake override feature. The brake override feature is installed on all transmission versions: automatic, manual, sequential manual gearbox (SMG) and dual-clutch transmission (DCT).

the statement about all bmws since 94 having electronic throttles is bogus.

regardless, pushing in the clutch/slapping the shifter into neutral is very simple and something that anyone needs to be familiar with as a runaway engine can happen on ANY internal combustion car regardless of electric throttle or not.

hell on the our m54 based cars the throttle body doesn't even open until more then roughly 30% of throttle is used, the idle control valve does the grunt of the low load/low input work.

They are covering up something to avoid a major lawsuit. Sign off on NOTHING until you speak to an attorney. This is a lot more serious than just a messed up bumper.

Make sure that you get your hands on any part that is responsible.

There is no doubt in my mind they are hiding something.

If they "Threw Away" the part then get them to show a list in writing they replaced, then go to an ASE certified BMW mechanic and get them to do an evaluation and check if the parts are really replaced and look for any new parts not listed.

More updates. After the BMW service center diagnosed the problem with the sensors they charged me $730 to replace the Vanos sensors. I spoke to two people including the manager of the service center to confirm that the sensors caused the surge/un-intended acceleration (exact wording on the service record that they gave me) and I was reassured that the answer is yes. I got the X3 back and called BMW Canada and complained, as a simple sensor failure should not have such a significant consequence. After a week they called me back and said their engineers assessed the issue and they believe that there is no way that the failure of Vanos sensors could have caused the unintended acceleration! Which BMW do I believe? I called the BMW service center and asked for re-imbursement for their wrong diagnosis (according to BMW Canada) but so far to no avail. I am very disappointed with BMW Canada and the way they are handling this case. The BMW Canada representative that I spoke to refused to let me speak to his supervisor. I will give them another week before I pursue legal action. BMWs are great cars but this kind of customer service is unacceptable.

there is no way vanos sensors could have cause this. what vanos does is control the ammout of the air into the negine and the timing of the combustion(kinda like vtec in honda or vvt in toyota), there is no way it could cause acceleration of any measurable king let alone full on WOT it mostly for performance and efficiency. once i was told by a dealer that the reason there was no oil in the engine in the car i was about to test drive was because it evaporated, i still lol when think of it